Deirdre & Benjamin

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DR: Hello my name is Deirdre Ruddock. I am studying French. I am in 2nd year LIB at LYIT. Benjamin is my tandem partner, he is one of the French students from the University of Orleans, and he is here for the whole year. So, we are in some classes together.
Benjamin what are the reasons for your choice to come to study in Ireland?

BB: It's funny, this is going to be the first time we are going to speak French so long to each other.

The reasons, which motivated me to come to Ireland this year, are, actually, the fact that I am in 3rd year, they (my university) offered me the chance to go abroad. The reasons, which motivated me to come this year to Ireland? Firstly to speak English, really speak English. Because I study English and Spanish and the fact that I am in 3rd year, my department offered me the chance to go either to Spain or to Ireland and I chose Ireland since I thought, I think, that English is more interesting to master, given that I study it with business. (Commerce).
And the second reason I availed of this opportunity, is simply from a financial point of view. Going to Ireland is feasible, but when you receive a grant it is even more financially appealing!

DR: Up to how much did the government finance this year for you?

BB: In all, it is a little complicated and even I get lost sometimes, but if you add up all the grants that I receive monthly, this financial aid almost covers 80% of my expenses. That makes this really, really, really, attractive. But you can only avail of one Erasmus year on our university course.

DR: What images of Ireland did you have before coming?
The image I had before coming! I saw a green country. I though that there would be more people living here. They told us about the bad weather and I confess that every morning when I leave my house and it's raining I realise that it is true! Then I imagined the sheep crossing the road and I imagined something much more rural, and the big surprise when I arrived here is that I learned that there had been an enormous economic boom and that everything was much more modern, especially Letterkenny. That was a surprise.

DR: What conclusions have you come to, about this year, up to now, up to now?

BB: So now roughly three quarters of the year has gone by. The conclusion that I can come to is that I am very, very happy with the way that it has been, and when I think that it ends soon I say to myself that I must get even more out of it. I have seen some magnificent places, I have met some really, really, nice people... definitely. There is only one negative point, it is inconvenient when you come here and you haven't got a car, you cannot travel around and I thought that I could rent a car and go for drives all over Ireland but this is not the case. Fortunately, I have some friends who brought me to a small youth hostel in Glencolmcille and well, that is something I would advise other students, to bring their car or else, in fact, you have to stay here. And Letterkenny is not Ireland!

DR: What have you learnt about Irish society?

BB: First of all, that it is very, very, different, well, not very, very different but there are a lot of differences between French society and it is nice when you go abroad to be even more aware of the values of your own culture because it is seen from a different point of view. The Irish are very peaceful people, very confident and very welcoming. It is not the same in France. But I think that a year is not long enough for you to be able to completely understand, it would be necessary to stay much longer, but at the same time, it's long enough for me. Let's say that I have a good feeling about Irish society and leave it at that for the moment.

DR: What do you miss the most?

BB: The most? Well sorry to the Irish, but the food here is not up to the French food that is what I miss the most, along with my family inevitably. There are moments when my moral is low. But yes! The bread, for example, I used to eat it, I used to eat it for the first month and then I gave up. And then!

DR: And what are you going to remember?

BB: That is a good question. What am I going to remember? Some very good memories, really some very good memories and just to refer to my first day, I had nothing in my stomach and the first thing that I had to drink here, in fact, was tea with milk and that was a first! I didn't know that it existed. And I was so hungry that it gave great pleasure to my stomach and me. This is what I am going to remember. Above all, some very good memories.

Emma & Julie

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EE: Hello, my name is Emma Edwards and I am a student in Languages and International Business. I have studied French for 7 years and have been in France once at La Rochelle.
My partner is Julie Rapin, she is a French student who is taking part in the Erasmus programme and she is in Letterkenny for one school year. We met thanks to Tandem and we are sometimes together in class.
Why did you come to study in Ireland? And why to Letterkenny?

JR: I came to study in Ireland for many reasons.
First of all, in France I study Applied Languages, therefore it is strongly advised to go away for a year to improve your English. I think there is no better way than to spend a year in an English speaking country to improve my level of English.
Furthermore, I have wanted for a long time to spend a year in the Erasmus programme: I wanted to leave France in order to discover a new country, a new culture and new people.
Finally, I came to Ireland to study and in particular to Letterkenny because it is one of the English speaking partners that my university has and it is a country which attracted me a lot.

EE: What were you expecting from your year in Ireland?

JR: In coming to Ireland I wanted to live a year that I would never be able to forget in my life. I wanted to improve my English by talking with the Irish.
I also wanted to be able to live like an Irish person: go to the same places as pubs, to go to the same school system as the LYIT, I wanted to adapt myself to their way of life.

EE: Did you have any preconceptions about Ireland?

JR: The main ideas that I had and I think everybody has concerns about the weather. I thought I would never see the sun in Ireland and all the weather was rain but in the end the weather is not as bad as that. However there is only one country, it is only in Ireland where it is able to have rain, snow, wind, hail and the sun in the same day.
Except that, I didn't really have a prior idea on Ireland but I thought the Irish would come to speak more.

EE: Is your year in Ireland what you expected it to be?

More or less. Regarding English I have made a lot of progress; today I can understand an English film without the subtitles!! ...which is a good thing, I especially made progress at listening.
I've met a lot of super people, for example I live with 2 Polish people and 1 German, and we share a lot of things.
However, I am a little disappointed, because I thought to be able to have more contact with the Irish, and except a few people, I didn't have a lot of exchange with them.

EE: What aspects of Irish Culture have you discovered?

JR: I have discovered the pleasure of going into a pub and drink a beer. Before going away I didn't really like going out to bars in France but here, the pubs have a very pleasant atmosphere and especially for non-smokers. Furthermore, it is a place that I like a lot because you find people of all ages and all generations. I have also been able to listen to traditional Irish music and to see Irish dancing and it is very nice.

EE: What do you think of the Irish way of life?

JR: The Irish style of life is a lot more "cool" and above all less stressful than in France. For example, there is not this student-teacher barrier which exists in France: I have already met one of my teachers in a pub and she came to chat with us as if we were friends, something which would rarely happen in France.
Furthermore, here the students like the teachers often arrive late this is not tolerated in France. Also the pace of college life is a lot less hectic than in France.

EE: What have you taken from your year in Ireland?

JR: My Erasmus year has brought me a lot. Already it is a year I will never forget, which will stay engraved in my memory.
I met people of different nationalities with different personalities and ways of life, generally you have to accept this especially when you are living with them, Erasmus teaches us how to be tolerant.
You also learn a lot about yourself, how to gain independence and manage problems like adults far away from your parents.
Also I discovered a magnificent country with superb landscapes, a country which I would like to come back to.
Finally, thanks to Erasmus, the idea of Europe takes on another meaning, after living for a year like that with people from all of Europe, you know what it means to be European.